While there’s no denying that the World Cup was a huge commercial success, fans everywhere disliked the introduction of hydration breaks that were used for advertising. Among those angry about the direction the sport is going is La Liga president Javier Tebas, who criticized Gianni Infantino in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Tebas said: “Infantino should leave. His time has come. But he has the support of the system and the federations. There is no opposition candidate; nobody wants to run only to lose. In the United States, I have heard many people speak out against Infantino and say they disagree with what he is doing. They say it, but then they do nothing. I don’t know what is worse, silence or complicity, because those who remain silent are perfectly aware of the damage soccer is suffering.”
This came as no surprise, with the president of La Liga criticizing the sport’s main governing bodies when he said: “The Super League decision gave FIFA and UEFA immense power, confirming their monopoly.”
Tebas on the hydration breaks
When the cooling breaks were introduced for the Club World Cup last year, everyone hoped they were just a trial. However, it became clear that, at least in the United States, the renamed hydration breaks were simply another way to show more commercials.
Infantino wants to be reelected (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Tebas said: “FIFA organizes things as it pleases, for its own interests, not for soccer. So if they need a 27-minute break, they take one. Hydration breaks are a farce. We have them in La Liga, but only when it is very hot.”
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The president also described his experience: “Here, the stadiums in Dallas, Los Angeles and Atlanta had air conditioning. I had to put on a sweater in the stands. It was a farce, an advertising break.”
Tebas on the Folarin Balogun case
The main controversy of the competition involved the USMNT. When the USMNT were beating Bosnia and Herzegovina, Folarin Balogun was involved in an unfortunate play in which he received a red card after a VAR review. This was just the beginning, because FIFA did something unprecedented by rescinding the suspension and allowing him to play against Belgium.
Tebas said: “It is an extremely serious matter: they were lucky that Belgium eliminated the United States, because otherwise they could have created a scandal that would have cost Infantino his job. Because Belgium won, they managed to bury the issue. But this is only the tip of the iceberg.”
